The Colors of Love
by s0cialghost
Summary: Ruby and Cooro had always traveled together for as long as they both could remember. With three new travel companions, what could possibly go wrong? A lot of things. What could possibly go right? Love - Senri x OC
1. Chapter 1

"Cooro, I don't think this is a very good idea." I said to my curious best friend Cooro, a crow +anima. You see +anima are a special kind of people that have the power of animals. They even have a birthmark. I'm a cat +anima. When I use my powers I get cat paws and cat ears. My human ears disappear for them. +Animas aren't exactly welcome in most places, so Cooro and me travel in search of more +anima. I'm sixteen and Cooro is thirteen **(I had to change his age! Husky's will be changed too.)** Anyway, we are currently standing outside of a tent of a traveling circus. You see, inside this tent is the mermaid princess tank. Apparently, she is a real mermaid and for some reason Cooro wants to see her, but we don't have any money to get in.

"Why not Ruby? No one is going to notice. We'll be gone in no time." Cooro assured me. I sighed and Cooro stuck his head in a rip in the tent. I did the same next to him.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" The ringmaster shouted over everyone's voice. The large crowd slowly grew quiet. The ringmaster was standing on a stage and he was holding a curtain. The mermaid princess must be behind there.

"Thank you. A strange creature, half human, half covered in silver scales. A fearsome creature." The ringmaster said. How can a princess be fearsome? That's what I would like to know.

"I will now present the mermaid princess!" The ringmaster shouted, pulling the curtain. Cooro gasped. The mermaid princess was real after all. She had long silver hair adjourned with pearls. The mermaid was in a small tank with come seaweed, coral, and small fish. She smiled at everyone, but then stopped Cooro and me. The ringmaster noticed and turned around as some other guy was trying to get everyone out of the tent. "Ah, he found us!" Cooro shouted and people looked over at us. I pulled my head out and Cooro tried to do the same, but is didn't work.

"Huh, I can't get out! Ruby, help me!" Cooro shouted, trying to pull his head out.

"I told you this wouldn't work!" I said, transforming to being part cat. I slashed the strings under Cooro's head, but at the same time a worker pulled Cooro inside.

"We can't have you looking for free." He said, dropping Cooro. I lunged through the hole and next to Cooro. "

Catch them now. I'll deal with them later." The ringmaster ordered. The mermaid princess watched curiously.

Then, the ringmaster noticed that my hands were paws and I had cat ears.

"She's an +anima!" He gasped. Cooro then transformed and grew out his black crow wings.

"Wha? What is this?" The worker said in horror. Cooro grabbed my hand and lifted into the air.

"We are sorry for not paying!" Cooro said sincerely. Another worker came over.

"Catch them and don't let them get away!" The ringmaster shouted. Cooro flew a little higher and grabbed onto the tent.

"Ah!" I shouted as the tent started to collapse. Cooro went crashing to the ground and the tent was completely down on top of us. We managed to find out way out.

"Wow, that was crazy!" Cooro exclaimed.

"Oh really? That was so dangerous!" I scolded my best friend. I looked up and a boy or girl, I can't really tell, stood above us dripping wet with a rake behind his/her back. "Aren't you-" I started to say, but then he/she hit both Cooro and me in the head with the rake.

"Good job Husky!" The ringmaster called. Husky, huh. I guess that means he/she is a boy. I then blacked out.

When I woke up, I was sitting on a padded chair and Cooro was lying on a bed across the room completely knocked out. The ringmaster was sitting next to him. I pretended to be asleep. Then Husky walked in.

"Ringmaster, is ha a… +Anima?" Husky asked slowly.

"Looks like it. See? He even has a birthmark. The girl over there does too. But both look different then yours." The ringmaster told husky. I guess Husky is a +anima too. Wait is he the mermaid princess?

"Maybe I could you them in the show. What a catch." The ringmaster told husky while noticing a bump on Cooro's head. Husky then got mad.

"You've already made a killing off the mermaid princess! Isn't that enough for you?" Husky said, slamming his fist on the mermaid princess poster on the door. I guess he really is the mermaid. Then Husky got into a big fight with the ringmaster about how his pearls were cheap, how he wanted money, and that if he didn't give him that, Husky would leave.

"Husky, what brought this on so suddenly? Wait is it these kids? You're planning to leave with them because you are all +anima?" The Ringmaster asked.

"That's not why!" Husky shouted.

"Hmph. well, you can't leave anyway. Right Husky?" The ringmaster smirked, holding up and thing on his necklace. Husky glared.

Cooro still hasn't woken up yet and no one knows I'm awake either. Husky tried to grab the necklace, but the evil, only in my opinion, man turned away.

"Just keep still and do as I say and I'll think about the money." The ringmaster said, walking out.

"You cheat! Stupid old man!" Husky shouted, throwing a stuffed bear at the closed door. "So, you name is Husky?" Cooro suddenly asked. He must have been listening too. Husky quickly turned around. Cooro stood up. I did the came.

"I'm Cooro!" My best friend told Husky.

"And I'm Ruby. It's nice to meet you Husky." I introduced myself.

"If you're leaving, then come with us!" Cooro suggested.

"You're a fish +anima and I'm a crow right?" Cooro asked. "Yeah." Husky answered. Where is Cooro going with this?

"Well, if you can swim then you can catch fish. I bet they taste good!" Cooro exclaimed. What the heck?

"So, let's go together! We've been searching for other +anima. It would be fun!" Cooro tried to assure Husky. He looked unsure.

"Yeah, it would be pretty fun. We haven't met any +anima in a long time." I added.

"Don't be ridiculous! You two are going to take my place in the circus!" Husky shouted and at that he walked out and slammed the door.

"Take his place…" Cooro muttered. Then Husky quickly walked back in.

"Just so you know, I don't dress up like a girl because I like it! It's for the money!" Husky told us and left again.

"So he was a boy." Cooro commented.

"You just realized that?" I asked, smacking him in the head. We laughed.

"So, what should we do now?" I asked. It was really quiet.

"Maybe we should get some sleep for tomorrow. Who knows what going to happen now?" Cooro suggested. I agreed and Cooro got back on the bed and I took my chair. It was hard to fall asleep, but I finally did like an hour later.

"A job?" I asked madly. I do not want to have a job. The ringmaster even gave Cooro this weird outfit to put over his normal clothes.

"Well, since you watched without paying you'll have to work it off. It's only fair." He told us. I had a strong urge to transform and scratch the evil man in the face, but that would get me in even more trouble. When we walked into the tent that was put back up, Husky was in his +anima form and tied to a pole in his small tent. He had the whole costume on, even the funny wig.

"What happened Husky? Did you do something?" Cooro asked, standing in front of the tank.

"It's all apart of the show. The black-winged messenger of death come and takes away the beautiful mermaid princess with the cat guardian for protection." The ringmaster explained.

"So, I'm the cat guardian and Cooro is the black-winged messenger?" I asked. The ringmaster nodded. He told Cooro to spread his crow wings and stand to the left of the tank and me to change to being cat-like and sit protectively in front of the tank. Cooro looked at Husky.

"This isn't an act!" Husky said to my best friend. Then Husky looked doubtfully at Cooro. Soon, people started filling into the tent.

"Everyone, These are the black wings that bring death and the claws that bring pain. The messenger of death and the cat guardian have captured the mermaid princess of the blue sea!" The ringmaster announced. Cooro's expression was odd. Wait, that's the face Cooro wears when he has a plan.

"Mr. Ringmaster sir?" Cooro asked, looking down. The evil man turned from the audience. Cooro then suddenly burst out fake crying, but everyone else thought it was real.

"What on earth are you doing?" The evil man exclaimed. Husky looked surprised. He obviously didn't have faith in Cooro.

"I feel so sorry for Husky! It's mean to tie him up like that!" Cooro sobbed.

"That's so mean!" A guy from the crowd called out. Other's agreed with him.

"Wait! It's all just a misunderstanding!" The ringmaster pleaded. Then, Cooro walked over and bit off the compact looking thing from the evil man's necklace. I stood up. There was no need to stay down anyway. Cooro's plan most likely involves us escaping. He flew up to the top of the tent where the pole in Husky's tank started.

"You see, there's more to the story. The messenger of death falls in love with the mermaid princess and decided to escape with her along with the cat guardian." Cooro announced. Husky looked up at Cooro in disbelief that he pulled that off. Cooro pulled on the pole. The tank spilled over and rolled away to not be squished. This caused the tent to fall down and Husky to fall out of the tank.

Cooro and I went over to Husky, who was still tied to the pole.

"That went pretty well." Cooro commented about his own plan.

"Yeah, it sure did!" I said, high fiving him.

"Will you hurry up and untie the rope!" Husky asked in a hurry.

"If I do, will you come with us?" Cooro smiled at his sudden idea.

"By the way, what is this? Is it important to you?" Cooro asked, holding up the thing that was on the ringmaster's necklace.

"I'll tell you later! Just untie me!" Husky shouted. I smiled and untied the rope while Cooro examined the object.

"How dare you trick me!" The evil man shouted, coming out from under the fallen tent. "We'll be surrounded if we don't hurry!" Husky informed us.

"Really? I hadn't noticed." I said sarcastically.

"But don't worry about that. I'm here!" Cooro said optimistically, grabbing Husky and then me. Cooro flew into the sky.

"We are taking the mermaid princess now!" Cooro shouted happily.

"You little demons!" The ringmaster shouted as we flew away. Yay, I won't have to hear his annoying voice ever again!


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone! I would like to thank organization MA for telling me where I made a mistake and for telling me it would be easier to read if I went to a new line when anyone started talking. You didn't say anything wrong at all! I like it when people give me advice. Now, here is the chapter!**

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"Wow, this feeling is great!" Husky said dreamily.

"Cooro, if you can't carry us any time just land and rest." I told Cooro. Right then, we began loosing altitude.

"We're falling!" Husky shouted.

"Cooro, snap out of it!" I shouted in my best friend's ear.

"No moreeee." Cooro muttered. We landed in a pond. The pond was filled with giant lily pads. Husky, who was still in fish form, dragged us to one of the giant floating plants. I gasped for air, as did Cooro. He was exhausted.

"Cooro, are you ok? What happened?" I asked worriedly.

"Man, that's the first time I've ever flown with two people!" Cooro panted. The compact object fell out of his hand and I picked it up.

"Husky, take it." I said, tossing him the compact object. Husky looked delighted. Cooro and I finally climbed on top of the lily pad while Husky stayed in the water. Husky opened the compact object and took out a pair of pearl earrings and put them in his ear. "If you are a guy, then why are you wearing earrings?" I teased.

"Why you! I… Um, thank you." Husky said sheepishly.

That's when Cooro's stomach growled loudly. "Fine, I'll catch you as many fish as you want!" Husky sighed. "Yay! And in return I'll-"

"No way! I'm not flying with you again!" Husky shouted, jumping up and then diving into the water. After we finished eating the delicious fish Husky caught, we got out of the pond. Husky went back to being human, made a makeshift shirt out of a few large leaves tied on a string, and we started waling down a dirt road. That's when we ran into a salesmen riding on a cart pulled by two large birds. I believe they are called either Emus or Ostriches. We decided to sell the silver wig Husky used in the mermaid show at the circus.

"Is this a good trade for food and water?" Husky asked, holding up the shiny wig.

"Yes, it's a quality item. How did you kids… and teen get it?" He asked. Husky looked bewildered.

"You see mister, it belong to Ruby here and she likes it a lot, but we have to sell it!" Cooro expertly lied.

"Oh really, then I'll have to give you a lot for it." The salesmen said, turning to his cart.

"Cooro, why do these random things keep coming out of your mouth?" Husky whispered to my best friend.

"Well, do you want me to tell him the truth? Husky wore it in the mermaid princess show and-" Husky tackled Cooro and I fell to the ground laughing. The salesmen looked at us weirdly.

"Oh and by the way, do you have any clothes?" Husky asked when he was done attacking Cooro and I had stopped laughing.

"No, I'm out, but I can give you this fabric." The salesmen said, putting a flower print fabric around Husky. I laughed and Husky gave me a death glare.

"Um, are there any shops around here?" Husky asked, losing his temper.

"Yes, there is a village about half a days walk from here. It's called Abon. It's a small village but they are known for their shops and cuisine." The salesmen told us.

"Cuisine?" Cooro exclaimed.

"Yes, but Abon has been having trouble lately. I wonder if it is safe." The salesmen sighed. When he looked up, all he saw was me standing there. Cooro and Husky had already begun running down the dirt road again.

"Thanks for all of your help!" I shouted, running after them,

"So this is Abon." I said, looking at the empty looking town.

"Cuisine! Cuisine" Cooro shouted. We were about to walk into town when a group of guys came up to us.

"What businesses do you kids and a sweet-looking teen have here?" A guy holding a club asked, leaning against a fence.

"We are here to eat the local cuisine!" Cooro told them, taking a step forward. They all laugh and I glared. Cooro took another step closer.

"Cooro, come back here." I said, pulling Cooro back to Husky and I.

"Well, you aren't getting anything! This town now belongs to the Garrison gang!" The shouted. After that, they chased us halfway back down the road.

"Ok, that was completely unexpected." I said. I looked at Cooro and he was wearing his idea face. I wonder he is up to.

Cooro looked at the river next to the road.

"Guys! I saw this river behind some of the houses. If Husky swims, I fly low, and Ruby runs we can get in the village!" Cooro told us. Husky looked at the water.

"There is no way I'm getting wet again!" Husky said stubbornly.

"Oh really? Think again." I said, pushing Husky into the water.

"Lets go." Cooro grew out his wings and took off, flying just above the water. I started running and kept pace with Cooro, leaving Husky behind us. We reached the town in no time. The river was next to a giant field of weird flowers. It was also dusty. I started coughing. I walked over to Cooro and that's when I felt like someone was behind us. I turned around. There was a guy about my height, probably my age, grayish hair with beads in it, with all sort of brown clothing, and his arm looked like a bear's arm. Is he a +anima?

He looked at me and lunged with his bear arm outstretched towards Cooro. I kicked my foot up and blocked the guys bear arm. He tried to push down on my foot, but I held my ground. Then, Cooro started shouting like there was no tomorrow. Husky was watching from the water. Some people in a nearby house opened the door and came out.

"What's going on?" Some asked.

"Is it the Garrison Gang again?" Someone else asked.

"Help us! We just came to eat the cuisine!" Cooro shouted. I was still holding up the guy's bear arm with my foot and I wasn't giving in and neither was he. I could tell it wasn't about me protecting Cooro or him hitting Cooro. It was a challenge of strength.

"Senri! It's ok! They mean no harm!" Someone called out. So his name is Senri? Senri's narrowed eyes relaxed and he pulled pack his arm. I pulled down my foot. Senri looked me in the eyes and I suddenly got nervous. Wait, why am I nervous. Well, he is kinda cute… Wait, why am I thinking that? I haven't even spoken a word to him. Senri then walked back to the middle of the flower field and sat down. We walked inside with the people after Husky got out of the water.

"Here's the Abon Village specialty, Abon weed stir-fry. Help your selves!" The older man said, putting a large bowl in front of us. We all took a bite. Cooro looked like he was in heaven and Husky looked the same in a different way.

"Wow, this is amazing!" I exclaimed, taking another piece.

"The Garrison Gang wants to dig up the field because they think there is gold buried there. You see, they came five days ago. They say they found a plant that is a gold indicator weed." The old man told us.

"That's when he appeared!" a girl a little younger than me gushed.

"He?" Cooro asked with his mouth full.

"The +anima Senri!" She exclaimed. So he is a +anima!

"He doesn't ask for anything at all! He is so shy! I'm going to bring him dinner!" She squealed.

They all walked into another room to let us eat.

"So, do you think Senri wants to protect the field?" Cooro asked.

"Well, that's the only reasonable explanation. I don't think he wants to just sit there and keep away the Garrison Gang for nothing." I replied.

"Does that make him a wandering mercenary?" Husky asked. I shrugged and continued eating.

"Well, I'm sure he's nice. If Senri wasn't nice, then I'm sure he wouldn't be doing this." Cooro said thoughtfully. I bet Cooro is right.

The villagers here are so nice! They let us all spend the night. Early in the morning, I woke up to Cooro walking out the door.

"Where are you going?" I yawned.

"On a walk." That's all Cooro said. I went back to sleep and woke up a bit later. Then, Husky and I decided to go see if Cooro was back from his walk yet.

"Where do you think he went?" Husky asked. I shrugged and notice Senri was walking by and heading to the field. That's when the Garrison Gang showed back up.

"Hey +anima punk!" The leader with a sword shouted. Senri looked over at them and stopped. What are they going to do to Senri? Everyone around stopped to watch.

"You got us good yesterday, but it's time for revenge. Get him!" The leader shouted. They want revenge? Two guys threw chains at Senri. One chain wrapped around Senri's right arm and the other around his left leg. One other guy threw a next that covered half of Senri.

"Oh no!" The younger girl, that had been talking about Senri yesterday, shouted. Senri's arm transformed into a bear arm and he cut the chains and the net in second. The Garrison Gang looked like they were going to retreat when the leader looked over at Husky and I, the closest people to them. The leader ran over, grabbed Husky by the shirt and held up his sword.


	3. Chapter 3

I am so, so, so sorry that I haven't updated in forever. I've been busy, I had writers block on how the story was going to flow in this chapter, my internet went out for the longest time, and I've been super busy with school, but now all the junk in my life has balanced out, so I'll begin updating often again.

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"Husky!" I shouted, about to run to him, but then I decided it wouldn't be the best thing to do.

"If you come any closer the kid gets it!" The leader yelled. Husky looked terrified. Senri still ran at him. He doesn't care? When Senri was close to them, the leader realized Senri wasn't going to stop, so he pushed Husky away and grabbed me.

"Hey, let go!" I shouted. Senri stopped right away. He was really close now. He won't attack because the leader has me now. Senri looked confused.

"Ha! Your weakness is this girl!" The leader laughed. That's when a watermelon fell out of the sky and landed directly on the leader's sword. Crow feathers fell out of the sky. Everyone looked up to see Cooro flying with watermelons in his arms.

"Does anyone want some? They are really good?" Cooro asked, completely oblivious so what was going on below. The leader tried to shake the watermelon off his sword without letting go of me, but that didn't work out so well. In a hurry to get it off, the leader ended up pushing me away and taking the melon off with his hands. I hit the ground with a thud.

I looked up to see Senri and Husky looking down on me. Cooro was still up in the air.

"Ruby, are you ok?" Husky asked urgently. Senri's arm was back to normal and he offered to help me up. I grabbed his hand and stood up.

"T-thank you S-Senri." I said nervously. Here we go with the whole nervous thing again. Senri smiled. He smiled! Wow, I am acting like such a fan girl right now. Cooro landed and started eating another melon. Senri headed back to the field since he saw that everything was ok. Once he left, a woman with a long dress and weird hat with her hair covering one of her eyes appeared.

"Boss!" The Garrison Gang shouted in dismay.

"How pitiful! You still haven't taken this tiny town yet?" She exclaimed.

"Their boss is a woman?" Husky asked in disbelief. Their boss turned to the townspeople. All of them were here by now.

"It's a simple proposal. The Garrison Gang will take care of the gold mining and you all will be very rich." She told them.

"It doesn't matter what you say. We want our village the way it is, so please leave." The older man said. Their boss looked stunned.

"Well, it's that's the case then we'll just leave. Everybody move out!" She called. The Garrison Gang left the village. They are retreating just like that? Ok, something is going on here. Husky looked unsure too. Husky excused himself for a second and Cooro gave me a big piece of watermelon. A few minutes later, Husky came running back.

"Cooro! Ruby!" He shouted.

"Hey Husky! Do you want some watermelon? It's really good!" Cooro asked the fish +anima.

"There's no time for that! The Garrison Gang is going to use explosives to blow up the Abon weed! We have to go over and soak the bombs!" Husky shouted. I quickly found three buckets of water and filled them up at the river and headed to where Husky said they were. When we arrived, the bombs were gone. Only the box marked "explosives" was remaining.

"It's all gone!" Husky exclaimed. I set down my bucket full of water, and then there was an explosion. We ran to the edge of the valley and saw the field was covered by dust and smoke. The Garrison Gang was standing at the mountain above the valley throwing down the last of the bombs. The townspeople finally came running to see smoke and their Abon weed field destroyed.

"Where's Senri?" A girl shouted. Oh no! Senri had been in the field when they threw down the bombs! I hope he's all right!

"Senri's over there!" Someone else shouted. Yes! He's ok! Most of the dust cleared and everyone could now see the Garrison Gang. Their boss lady was laughing.

"Looks like your field is no more. Now you are forced to dig up the gold!" The boss laughed. The Garrison gang came over to where we were all standing. The townspeople suddenly grouped up away from the Garrison Gang.

"If only they had listened to us." The older man sighed.

"It's too bad." A girl said with sympathy. The boss lady looked interested.

"What? What is it?" She asked impatiently.

"B-boss, there are these spots. You got them too boss." The guy that led the group that attacked Senri informed his leader. All of their faces had spots on them. The villagers turned to them with the older man in the front.

"Soon you'll all have our village's local disease. If only you had eaten some of the Abon weed cuisine, you would have been saved." He informed the Garrison Gang.

"What! Somebody find a stalk of the weed! There has got to be at lest on left" The leader lady shouted in distress. That's when Senri walked out of the dust and was holding a big chink of ground in his bear arm. That chunk of ground had an Abon weed in it.

"There is one! Give me the plant!" The lady leader shouted, about to take it from Senri. Senri turned away from her. The older man pulled a vile from his pocket.

"Well, I just happen to have some Abon Weed Medicine with my, but it costs a great deal of money." He said.

"Wrong." I heard Senri say quietly. Wow, that is the first time I have ever heard him say anything. The lady leader held out a small pouch of money.

"That is not enough." The man said. The leader of the Garrison Gang pulled out another sack and the older man took the money. The Garrison gang headed back to their wagons and rode out of Abon as fast as they could.

"Thank goodness they are finally gone!" A younger girl exclaimed from the crowd.

"I know, right?" I asked, almost sarcastically. I don't think she heard me.

A bit later, after saying goodbye to the locals, we set out. What bothered me is that I didn't see Senri at all before we headed out. I wonder where he went.

"Guys, where are we going now?" I asked as we walked down the dirt path.

"I dunno, how about somewhere with more watermelon?" Cooro asked. I sighed.

"How about a nice city with a river in it?" Husky threw in.

"At this point, I really don't care. Let's just make sure wherever we're going doesn't have a gang trying to take it over." I sighed again.

"With watermelon!" Cooro shouted, pushing his fist into the air. Husky smacked him on the back of his head. "Will you shut up about watermelon?"

Cooro rubbed his head and I laughed. We continued to keep walking. The sun was blaring down on us. I whipped the imaginary sweat from my forehead. That's a habit of mine when the sun is really bright.

"Ruby, what did you think of Senri?" Cooro suddenly asked. Great.

"Well, he only spoke once, but from how he acted, he sounds kind and brave." I spoke how I truly felt about Senri. Well, almost truly.

"Husky, what do you think of him?" The crow +anima asked the fish +anima. Cooro practically rolled his eyes. "I think he is anti-social or something."

"Do you think he would come with us?" Cooro asked us. Husky and I glanced at each other. "Probably not." I sighed.

"Yeah, someone so unfriendly wouldn't come with us even if you asked." Husky answered.

"Hey, he wasn't unfriendly! After all, he was going to save you from the dude with the sword." I argued, crossing my arms.

"Yeah, but he wasn't going to save you!" Husky retorted. I tensed up irritably, thinking of a reply. I sadly didn't come up with one.

"Yeah, you guys are probably right..." Cooro trailed off. He even stopped walking. Husky ran into him and I ran into Husky. Not wanted to crush the two, I managed to go backwards and landed on my butt.

"What is it Cooro..." Husky trailed off. I peered out around them. Senri was standing on a flat rock in the near distance. That's when Cooro went running towards him.


	4. Author

Hello there! It has been a very long time, hasn't it? I don't even know where to begin. Well, if you did miss me, you can thank RedRose1029. Earlier today I was cleaning out an old e-mail account and I came across the e-mail notification for her review of this story. So yes, I would like to thank RedRose1029 for my return. It's nice to be back.

Now, concerning this story, I am going to keep writing it. My only concern is how my writing style has changed over the years. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to re-write the three chapters already up or just leave them alone and keep going.

The brand new chapter should be up within the next week. I haven't read +Anima since I last updated this story, which was around 2 or 4 years ago. I'm going to brush up on the series and write the chapter, so expect that really soon.

I do have to apologize for my absence though, it's ridiculous how long I left for. I had only intended to leave for a few months, but I obviously lost track of time. So I am sorry.

Okay, I'll see you all again in the next few days. Oh, and thanks again to RedRose1029 c:


	5. Chapter 4

Well, here is the first update since my break. I really hope you like it and don't mind the difference in the writing. Here you go

"Senri! What are you doing out here?" Cooro jumped up to him. The bear +anima looked down at him. He was still clutching that book of his. Senri didn't reply, he just looked down at the crow +anima with a blank stare.

"Hey, you going to tell us?" Husky asked, pulling his too small white shirt down. Senri still didn't answer, just looked off into the distance. I walked up and stood next to him.

"Which way are you going, Senri?" I asked softly. It took a moment, but he lifted his hand up and pointed down the road."Oh, I see. How about traveling with us?" I asked with a smile.

"Yeah, come with us! It'll be fun!" Cooro exclaimed, jumping around. Husky sighed "Sure, why not" Senri nodded and gave me a light smile.

It seemed like we had been walking for forever with no sign of anything until we came to a small pitiful wooden sign that was clearly starting to rot.

"Well, I guess the next town is called Octopus. What a sad sign" Husky huffed, crossing his arms.

"I wonder if they had watermelon?" Cooro asked. Nobody bothered to respond at that point.

"Come on, let's just keep going. I guess we're almost there"

My thoughts were right, after another ten or fifteen minutes of walking, the town came into view. It had large bridge-like structures coming off of the main city that was on a tall mound. "Well damn, I guess that's why it's called 'Octops'" I mumbled, still staring almost in awe.

We made our way up into town with no problem. "So this is it. The city is so big! And has so many people!" Cooro shouted, throwing his arms up with a cheerful grin "I wonder if there are any +anima here?"

"You're always so quiet Senri, don't you like talking?" Cooro asked the bear +anima. Senri didn't respond as we sat down on a stone staircase to rest.

"I'll be back, I'm going to get new clothes. Senri, don't let either of them wander off" Husky ordered. I sent him a glare before he set off. I attempted to zone out into my own thoughts, but was disrupted by Cooro's voice.

"Oh! Senri, Ruby, did you see that? That was kind of amazing. You didn't see that? You didn't see that? Oh, that's too bad!" Cooro rambled, beating us on the shoulder. I directed my eyes to what he was talking about, but all I saw was a newly clothed Husky walking to us.

"Guys, thanks for waiting" He greeted us. "Wow Husky, you look great!" I told him.

"So, you sold the pearls?" Cooro asked. "Just the earrings, money too heavy to carry. This should last us a while…" Husky trailed off, staring at the small bag of coins clutched in his hand.

"Yeah! Now we can eat!" Cooro shouted happily while jumping up and down. Husky's face changed to a "I-knew-you-would-say-that" look and nodded. "I'll pay for you all" I sent him a warm smile.

Our group gathered around the next food stand we could find, which ended up being on for bread. "Oh, I want this one and this one and this one!" Cooro pointed as Husky stood at his side saying no to anything too expensive. Senri stood next to me. I picked up the few pieces that I wanted and turned to our new companion.

"What would you like Senri?"

It took a moment, but I got a response. Senri stuck his hand out and pointed at a twisted loaf of bread. I picked it up for him and asked, "Anything else?" He just wanted another loaf of the same type.

After Husky paid the vendor, we settled on the same stairs we had sat on when we arrived.

"Mmmm, so good" Cooro practically hummed as he munched on his round bread. "So, what do we do now? Is there anything you'd like to you Ruby?"

I pondered about the town. "Um, I don't think so." I replied, grabbing for my second piece of bread.

"What about you Husky?"

"…..No, not right now, but…."

"What about you Senri?"

Senri didn't reply, he just kept eating and holding his book close to him as he smiled at it. "Hm, don't feel like talking, huh?" Husky commented, rather pissed off. "YOU were the one waiting for US, you know"

"Maybe he just doesn't like talking" Cooro said sadly. Suddenly, our food was knocked out of our hands. Our pieces of bread and the bag with the rest tumbled quickly down the stairs. Wait, what? I turned to see two younger kids running further up the stairs. "You brats!" Husky shouted at them.

Two other kids appeared at the bottom and scooped up our food. "My bread!" Cooro shouted, distressed.

"Ah.." Senri spoke with a shocked look. The little girl had his treasured book tucked under her arm. Before I could process anything, Senri and Cooro took off, leaving Husky and I to follow after.

"Give us back our bread!" Coroo shouted while in pursuit of the kids, who were giggling the whole run. We followed them in the open streets until they lead us into what seemed like the outskirts of the city and darted into an opening in large rocks.

I hesitated. "Uh, guys are you sure…?" None of them listened, so I kept with then. Before I knew it, the kids split up. Cooro went one way and Senri went the other. I couldn't see where Husky went before I tripped over a larger rock and went tumbling to the floor, but it didn't stop there. I feel down a small drop and landed with a loud thud that echoed against the walls. My surroundings didn't look like the cave entrance.

"Great, now I'm lost" I muttered to nothing as I jumped up. Wandering around the cave that just resembled a maze was the only thing I could too.

"Damn, it's so dark in here….AH!"

I found myself once again laying on the floor. Just another hole in the ground I couldn't see in the dark. To my luck, when I looked up, I saw a figure resembling Senri running straight ahead. I jumped up and darted that way in hopes of catching up.

The bear +anima dropped down through an opening that had light streaming through it. I hopped down after him.

"Wahh, you're so stubborn!" A childish voice whined. Oh, he had been following the girl who stole his book. The little girl ran forward again with Senri right behind her. The girl stopped in her tracks at a ledge surrounded by water. Haha, busted.

"Senri!" I called out to him as I ran to stand next to him. He only took one look in my direction before focusing back on the girl, who looked terrified.

"Ah, uh, y-your book! Here! We have to get out of here or-"

She never got to finish that sentence before a tentacle looking figure slapped itself around her leg and pulled her backwards. I ran forward to try to grab her, so did Senri, but we only got there in time to see her being pulled down towards the water full of unknown creatures.

The girl was pulled into a mass of them and screaming. Senri's faced stayed determined as he transformed his arm and dove down to the girl. He slashed his way through the mass of creatures and grabbed for the girl that was clutching his book for dear life.

"….You'll be fine!" Senri smiled as he jumped off a rock back towards the ledge. The first full sentence I'd ever heard him speak. More creatures were starting to launch themselves at Senri's back as he landed. Oh no, Senri! I felt my nails rapidly grow into strong claws and my ears shift to much higher on my head. My instincts got me to swipe and slash at the jumping creatures. Slimy goo that I presumed was their blood went flying on impact. My heightened hearing could sense multiple footsteps from far away coming towards us.

The creatures gave up jumping and I was exhausted and light headed. I am way too out of shape to be doing these things. I was about to drop to my knees when arms pulled be back. I found myself in Senri's embrace.

"..….Thanks!" He smiled down at me. Oh god, his smile. No, Ruby, stop it, now. He pulled me back to the little girl, whose lib was trembling. Senri's book was on the ground next to her.

Senri, still holding onto my, bent down in front of her. After a few seconds, the girl burst into tears and was wailing. She grabbed onto Senri's shirt and pulled him down to the ground. I fell with them. While the girl cried into his shirt, I collapsed against his side. I felt my +anima power slowly changing my features back to normal. I closed my eyes just for a minute.

"Sammy!" A voice shouted. "Deli!" The girl shouted. My eyes flew open. A girl with glowing mushrooms sticking out of her helmet standing at the hole with Coroo and Husky behind her. The girl, named Sammy, ran to Deli, but was only smacked over the head by her.

"You're still small! You can't walk around on your own!" Deli shouted right before dropping to the ground and pulling Sammy into a tight hug. Deli insisted we followed her through the cave so we wouldn't get lost.

We found ourselves standing in a lighted room full of beds and other girl.

"This is our home. Ruby, you would be fine, but we usually don't allow guys, but you did save Sammy after all, so I guess you can stay for one night" Deli told us. Cooro looked overjoyed .

"None of us have relatives, and before we knew it, we found each other. Kind of like you guy, right?"

I glanced at our group. I guess that was pretty true. I had no family left. Another little girl dashed in.

"My bread!" Cooro shouted and Husk pointed angrily. "Geh, why are you here?"

Deli swiped the bag of food from her hands "Didn't I tell you not to steal from kids?" She asked. The girl looked down in guilt

"But, even though they're kids, they were buying food and they look rich…"

Husky looked alarmed and starting rummaging around in his pockets and shouted "Hey, you can keep the bread, but give me back my pearls!"

Uh, what? After a shouting match between the fish +anima and the girls, Deli stopped, "Oh, maybe it was her…"

I hoped you liked it. I'd like it if you reviewed this chapter and told me your thoughts on my attempt to restart this story. Thanks c:

Oh, and the next chapter should be posted in a few days.


	6. Chapter 5

"Husky, did you feel dizzy at all?" Deli asked with a knowing grin.

"Yeah, uh, how did you know?" He replied with a puzzled look. "I knew it…Lim, Erika, put the kids to bed. We're going out" She snapped. The two other older girls shooed the little kids off to their beds.

Deli got up in Husky's face. "Those pearls would sell for quite a bit, right? If you give us half, we'll take you to the person whole stole them!"

Deli led us through the dark caves as if she had lived there her whole life. "She uses some weird trick to make people dizzy, and then she steals their wallets," Deli explained as we walked. "She'll go after people that are alone in alleyways and stuff. She came here about a month ago and lived with us for a little while, but she left"

"Uh, why'd she leave Deli?" I asked curiously. If I was stuck living in a cave, I would rather put up with the group of girls that had an actual room than live in a damp and dark cave with creepy creatures crawling about.

"You'll see" Deli snapped irritably. We stopped at a pool of water full of large rocks. There was a dark tunnel behind it. "She lives over there"

"Got it, Husky and I will go!" Cooro shouted, jumping into the air. Within seconds, his black feathery wings were snapped out and black feathers were slowly dropping to the floor. "Ruby, Senri, Deli, you guys wait there"

"Cooro, wait up, it's too dangerous!" Husky exclaimed, tossing his shirt to the side as his lower body transformed into a mermaid-like state. He lunged into the water with a loud splash.

"That's an…+ANIMA!" Deli, Erika, and Lim shouted at once. Deli looked quite angry, so I backed up to Senri's side. He glanced over to me and gave me a half smile.

"Ruby, Senri, are you ones too? Sammy!" Deli rambled. I looked down to Senri's legs to see a surprise. The little girl that Senri had saved earlier, Sammy, was at Senri's feet and pulling on his poncho.

A few seconds later, Husky popped out of the water at the edge of the pool. Cooro was flying along above him, pulling along a irritated looking girl that also had wings. Was that the girl who stole Husky's pearls? I can't believe we found another +anima in a place like this.

"Sammy! Come over here!" Deli shouted, with a glare to me and Senri. Sammy reluctantly let go of Senri's poncho and darted to Deli.

"If I'd known you were +anima, I wouldn't have led you here" Deli informed us harshly. I tugged at my shirt's black sleeves while Senri shifted his feet.

"Looks like you really hate +Anime. How could you accuse her like that!" Husky shouted angrily while pointing at the girl.

"Accuse? Is she saying that she didn't do it?" Deli raged. "You have no proof" The girl huffed with a shrug. "Who else would do it!" Erika shouted.

A screaming match broke out between Cooro, Husky, and the girls. Meanwhile, I watched as the girl with wings quickly darted away. "Hey, Cooro, your friend is leaving" I pointed. "Huh?"

"Nana?" Cooro shouted as she jumped and furiously flapped her wings to get herself away.

"So she actually stole the pearls?" I asked to no one in specific. Deli took off running. "Forget the 50/50 deal! First come, first serve!"

"Ruby! Senri! Cooro! Come on!" Husky snapped at us, taking off after the girls. We followed Husky into the dark caverns the cave had to offer us. After what seemed like a while, we were getting nowhere and fast.

"Husky, just give up. We lost them" I huffed, putting my hands on my knees and deeply breathing. I may be "stick-sized", but that isn't from exercising. Growing up with not a lot of food to put in your stomach takes its toll when you're older.

"No way Ruby! Those are my pearls and they will stay mine!" Husky argued. I shrugged and followed. Eventually, we heard Deli's voice. Husky was the first once to enter the rocky room. Deli was kneeled down, admiring the string of pearls while Nana was pouting on the floor.

"As if!" Husky shouted, ripping the pearls from Deli's hands. "I had to use my +anima powers to earn these pearls!"

"Then why don't you go earn some more? It must be easy for an +anima!" Deli grabbed onto a few strands of the pearls. They began a "tug-of-war" battle with the pearls. Before I knew it, I had phased into my +anima form, just in case there was any extreme trouble. An eardrum splitting noise hit my highly sensitive ears.

"Ah!" I shouted, clamping my hands to my cat ears, dropping to my knees. Someone rushed to my side as a fell over onto the dirty ground. "Make it stop…." I whimpered. The pain was spreading all over my head. It felt like my head was going to explode. A few seconds later, the horrible painful sound stopped. I was scooped up into someone's arms. I looked up to see Senri's kind face. He looked at me with concern.

"Nana! Wait! Those are Husky's pearls! Give them back!" Cooro was shouted. I saw Cooro up in the air with Nana through my squinted eyes.

Deli wasn't far happy. In fact, she was far from it. She stood there with Erika and Lim with her fits clenched.

"I HATE +ANIMA!"

It seemed as if everyone froze. My eyes grew wider. Senri looked away with a troubled expression. The only things moving were Nana and Coroo's wings.

Nana dropped the strands of pearls in shock. Both Husky and Deli grabbed for them.

"It's…IT'S NOT LIKE I WANTED TO BECOME A +ANIMA!" Nana screamed.

Everyone in the room except me and Senri went to cover their ears, expecting Nana's ultrasonic screech. All that was heard was a small snap. The pearls went dropping to the ground and all over, but then rolled into the darkness. Deli looked down.

"It's no use, they fell down the cracks…." She trailed off.

After a bitter goodbye to Deli and her group and Nana just disappearing into the darkness, we found ourselves walking away from the town.

"This was all because we got caught up in those stupid girls' war!" Husky complained, talking with his fists flailing about.

As Cooro argued Husky's statement and further pissed the fish +anima off, I turned to Senri as we walked.

"Senri, thanks for picking me up back there. My ears are really sensitive when they're like that." I explained. He only nodded. Great, now I feel stupid.

"Uh, uh, uh…..I like your poncho!" I blurted out. I then smacked myself in the face and looked away. My cheeks probably were tinted pink and I didn't want Senri to notice. The bear +anima still didn't say a word.

Okay, maybe this is just hopeless. "We need to pick a spot to camp out, it's getting dark. We had traveled into the woods, so just about any spot would do. Senri found us a small clearing next to a river for us to to settle down in. I lazily plopped down onto the soft grass and sighed. It's silly of me to think this way about Senri, it's clear he probably isn't interested anyway….


End file.
